The Cult-Image & the God's Real Presence
After the rite that 'opened its mouth,' the statue was no image but the god himself — to be fed, clothed, and consulted.
At the heart of each temple stood the cult-image — a statue of the god, richly made and adorned. Crucially, after special consecration rituals known as the 'washing of the mouth' and 'opening of the mouth,' the image was not regarded as a mere representation but as the god's genuine, living presence: it could see, eat, and be addressed directly. Priests bathed, clothed, and fed it daily, carried it in procession, and consulted it. The capture or destruction of a god's statue by an enemy was therefore a religious catastrophe — the god himself taken into exile — and its return a moment of national joy.
Key passages(13)
For (the god) Aššur, the father of the gods, his lord: Sennacherib, king of Assyria, the one who fashioned image (s) of (the god) Aššur and the great gods, greatly embellished the frieze of the battle
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Ur-Nanše, king of Lagaš, child of Gunidu, citizen of Gursar, built the Bagara of fired brick. He dug the Bagara........ He built the Ebgal. He built the temple of Nanše. He built the shrine of Ĝirsu.
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A dedication of a statue (Išme-Dagan S)
For Enlil, whose statements are powerful, the profoundly far-sighted knowledgeable judge, who issues decisions, whose utterances are immutable, who places the …… in his hands -- Išme-Dagan, the mighty
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Incantation:' Asare (Akkadian has instead: Marduk) saw your pure clay in the Abzu. ' Your goat is a goat (Akkadian has instead: Your behaviour is the behaviour) of lapis lazuli. Your ear is the ear of
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[ S ] ennacherib, great king, strong king, king of the world, king of Assyria, [ king of the fou ] r [ quarters ] (of the world), leader of a widespread population, [ the one who fashioned image (s) o
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Sennacherib, king of Assy [ ria ], the one who fashioned image (s) of (the god) Aššur and the great gods: [ Through ] divination, at the command of the gods Šamaš and [ Adad, I built ] the akītu - hou
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[ For (the god) Aššur, king of the god ] s, the father who engendered the Igīgū and Anunnakū gods, [... ], the one who decrees fates, lord of the lands,..., [ who resides in Eḫursaggalkurk ] urra, whi
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Ur-Nanše, king of Lagaš, child of Gunidu, citizen of Gursar, built the temple of Nanše. He fashioned (the statue of) Nanše, the mighty lady. He built the shrine of Ĝirsu. He fashioned (the statue of)
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For the goddess Ištar-of-Uruk, sovereign of heaven and netherworld, most valiant of the gods, august, supreme lady, who has gathered to herself (all) divine offices of highest rank, the one into whose
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For the goddess Nanāya, veiled one of the goddesses, who is adorned with attractiveness and joy and full of glamour, splendid daughter of the god Anu, whose lordship is supreme among all ladies, emine
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Sennacherib, king of the world, king of Assyria, the one who fashioned image (s) of (the god) Aššur and the great gods, I: With baked bricks from a (ritually) pure kiln, I had the tikātu - house of th
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Tiglath- [ pilese ] r (III), [ great ] king, [... ], conqueror of [... ], con [ queror of the (tribes) It ] uʾu, Rubuʾu, [... ]. I defeated [... ] (No translation possible) I filled Mount Ḫauranu (Hau
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For Ninĝišzida, his personal god, Ur-Ninĝirsu, ruler of Lagaš, son of Gudea, ruler of Lagaš, the builder Ninĝirsu's E-ninnu, fashioned his own statue. He named this statue for his sake “As I am someon
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